I decided to get the mower deck put back together so that I could use the 1855 as the main mower while I worked on the Wheel horses. I had rebuilt the spindles and then got caught up in other stuff so the deck rebuild got pushed off. I finally got it all back together and figured out how to mount it on the tractor. I was so excited. I got on and started to mow. That thing is a beast on grass! It did a great job, I wasnt too happy with the way it scalps but the grass looked great. I was almost finished, I just had one small area to finish up and she stopped cutting. I started checking what was going on and saw that the clutch would not engage. While i was looking i noticed that there was a little smoke coming out of the coil area. Well i got to take it apart today. It looks like when the PO had the engine swapped (onan to kohler) they made an adapter for the clutch. It seems to offset the spacers a few thousandths which let the drive hub rub on the coil. It rubbed the epoxy off and got into the windings of the coil. So no more clutch until I find a replacement field coil.

That sinks , If I remember right the one on my JD was coated in epoxy as a sealed unit and it would we pretty tough to unwind it to a good spot or make some kind of repair but maybe someone will come along that did , hope so those colls are $$$ , Al

Looks like I am going to try to rewind this one. Found sevral sites on the web about wrapping transformers and coils. Found the wire I need ($25 on ebay). I just cant put $150+ into a clutch, I will have to try winding my own first.

If it's like the MF 14/16, the winding broke loose from the potting compound. It's an easy fix. It just snapped the two wires at the coil ends. Just coax the wires loose enough to reattach, and repot it in epoxy. It is easier than reattaching the mower deck. Once you get it out, you will see what I mean.

Are you able to determine the no. of turns you need for the coil? If you know the wire gauge and the coil resistance you should be able to determine the wire length necessary. Is it going to be tough to get it wound in the same volume and same ID as the original? I've never heard of someone rolling there own coil. If you can take some pics it would be an iteresting topic!

Yep its enameled wire specifically for winding motors, transformers, coils etc... I managed to get the old coil out mostly undamaged so i will be able to take measurements and figure out how much wire i will need. Of course I cannot jump on it right away as that I have many irons in the fire. In the mean time i will be building a bobbin of the correct size and figuring out how to make a winding jig. Luckily this is just an electro magnet and not something like a transformer. With the electromagnet there is a nice "fudge factor" so I dont have to be ultra precise. A little more turns shouldnt affect the outcome in a negative way.

That's one project I wouldn't even think about trying. I would probably take it to my older brother, the retired electronics brain of the family. Good luck and how about posting some pictures when you get started?

Boy, that is toasted ! The one thing you have to watch is the resistance of the coil. Too low a resistance could cause it to overheat. It is running in a hot environment to start with and getting the heat out of the coil is critical to it's survival. If you know the wire gauge then you can figure out the length required for a given resistance. Trying to wind that by hand and get it the same size is going to be a real challenge. It would be interesting to see pictures of your winding setup if you can.

In Raleigh there WAS a shop that specialized in rewinding all sorts of motors. I used them to fix pool pumps, but I always looked around at what they had, and if it had a wire winding, they had it. Hit your local yellow pages, electic motor repair, alternator repair, automotive starter rebuild.